U of Texas Law Dean Steps Down Under Pressure

The dean of the University of Texas School of Law was essentially forced to step down today by administrators amid complaints by some faculty members about how he has allocated certain funds to professors.

The dean, Larry Sager, had been scheduled to step down at the end of the 2011-12 academic year. In August, he told faculty members in an emailed letter that he had asked not to be reappointed as dean. He gave no reason at that time.

“We asked him to step down and he did,” effective immediately, UT President William Powers Jr. told the American-Statesman this evening.

There was no misappropriation of funds, but some faculty members were unhappy with how Sager had been deploying money from the Law School Foundation, Powers said.